REASONS WHY PREVENTIVES SHOULD NOT BE USED

White Ribbon, Volume 18, Issue 208, 18 October 1912, Page 13

REASONS WHY PREVENTIVES SHOULD NOT BE USED

(Bv Dr. Elizabeth Dunn.) 111 tins enlightened age, every woman ought to know that the fundamental principle governing the establishment of the marriage law is th it children should not only l>e expected, but that theV should be lovingly welcomed and suitably provided for. Physical life is one of the most valuable gifts entrusted to us ; without it there is no possibility of us becoming possessed of spiritual life, of learning to know and love C»od. To really understand the value of physical life, we require to study the actions of nun and women 111 anv of the great emergencies threatening destitution to life and property. Think for a moment of a lire, ,»n<l of the action of tlu- men of the Fire Brigade. Before anv attempt is made to sa'e the material valuables in the house, the Captain carefully ascertains if there are any childr* a, women, or nun in the burning building, and if there are any they are Saved in the order mentioned. The same is true in a wreck ; life always conies before property, before the mails. And to the glory of British men we openly alhrm that they place the safety of children and women before their own. We have a striking example of this in tin* loss of the Titanic. What possibilities of enlaigement would become ours if we would onl\ let this fundamental truth

sink into our he.trts ami teach us to appreciate at its full value th.it most valuable gift of producing life which has been entrusted c n jointly to the keeping of man and woman. Alone we can do nothing ; together what marvellous possibilities open out before us. If we work hand in hand with (»od, making our pleasun wait on our duty and obligation to Him, it can become our joy to produce lives that can become a glory to Him and to us; and we shall be able to enter into His jov. What a different experience will be ours to that which those have who try to get pleasure apart from the fulfilment of obligation whose only thought, when they enter the married state, is how they can best eirov themselves. Main of these are so ignorant that they do not know what marriage really means, and what it should inevitably lead to. So that, when this inevitable consequence comes upon them, they feel bitter disappointment and chagrin. They tr\ to justify their subsequent actions by bringing to the front facts that ought to have been considered before their marriage, viz., their indifferent health, the difficulty of getting help, the difference the presence of a child in the home will make to them how it will of necessity curtail what thev consider their pie isure some are even bold enough to say their usefulness—and therefore if the first child comes as the result of ignorance, they make every possible effort to prevent the advent of a second. Can we respect such women ? Would we like to have such to be our mother. 1 sav no, no, NO Therefi re mv lirst reason against the ine of preventives is th it th*y cause us to lose our own selfrespect, the respect of rightminded persi ns, and put us out of fellowship with Christ. 11. Thev should not he used because thev seldom prove to be preventives. They cause the woman to lose her self-respect. She feels she was meant for something better than to be simply a convenience to her husband ; and, moreover, her mind is in a continual state of unrest. She knows within herself that she eanoot trust* to them ; she can onlv hope the result will prove to !e that which she desires. Thev allow license to the husband and tempt him to waste his vitality, and tile result often follows that their bitter dis-

appointment disastrously affects the life of the child conceived, and it comes forth Iroin the womb enit enled in mind and body, A constant source of sorrow and anxiety to them, a reflection of their own untutored minds. HI. The failure of preventives frequently leads to crime. All right-thinking persons are beginning to recognise th.it to kill a babe in the w >mb is as much murder as if it were alreadv born, and should receive the same punishment. When the effort to destroy the unborn babe results in the death of the mother, the perpetrator of the crime, whether a doctor or a midwife, is liaole to a sentence of | eiial servitude. IV. The apparent successful use of preventives results invariably in bad health to the woman ; her pelvic organs become congested through frequent indulgence, nature is unsatisfied, the purpose of her activity has been frustrated, the blood current that should have been sent into another life she revengefully turns off into some vicious growth, or causes it to Mow wastefuilv .nnl exhaustively at irregular periods, making the woman weak, irritable, an I bloodless. To sum up, the woman's ner.es sillier, her womb suffers, her moral sense suffers, her maternal instincts die down within her. In her efforts to avoid maternitv she has dulled and in some cases destroyed all her finer sensibilities. A Word to Mothers. Your instinct. are right, dear mother; it is y.»ur methods th.it are wrong. No mother can bear with justice to herself and the babe on her breast a child every twelve months. Your physical well-being demands that you have a resting time, a time in which you can recoup that which you have given out. Let there Ik.* a good understanding between you and vour husbands. (»et knowledge vourselvts on these matters, and then instruct them. If they irulv love you they will listen. Your importunity will impress them, and they will find that instead of their health suffering, as thev have been led to believe that it would, it will have improved ; thev will have more energy to provide for von and your healthv children. There will he jov in vour home, the result of mutual confidence and absolute trust. And vour children will rise up and call you blessed. Amen.